Just got an email from her adopter, the young lady who had been fostering her
and then moved to Southern California to attend law school. She has a question
about a little eye discharge that I wanted to run past the group. Also does
anyone know of a good FeLV friendly vet in the Costa Mesa/San Diego area? (I
hope Kim joins the group but if anyone has solid info or experience with this
I'm sure she would be happy to have you email her directly.)
Anyway, here is Kim's email to me and my reply:
Kimberly Wah <kimberly.wah @ gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Susan,
How are you doing? How is the cat rescuing/adoption going? I don't know if
you remember Esprit but I took her in as a foster kitty in Davis and then ended
up adopting her. Esprit had tested positive twice for FeLV and recently her
eye has begun to drip. She constantly has fluid (I call it "eye booger") below
her right eye. I was wondering if you knew whether or not this is a symptom of
FeLV or anything else and what I can do about it. Esprit seems to be eating
well and is still very active but she has a lot of eye goop coming out of that
one eye.
Other than that Esprit is having a grand time in my new new apartment. It's a
lot bigger (3 bed/2 bath) so she has much more room to run around and has lots
of windows to stare out of.
My reply:
That could be a cold or allergies. With spring pollen in the air and this
being Esprit's first spring in southern California, allergies would not be a
surprise. You really should join the FeLV email list at
http://felineleukemia.org/mailman/listinfo/felvtalk_felineleukemia.org There
are people on that list who regularly take in FeLV cats and will know a lot
more about it than me. (And a lot of people on that list are likely to remember
Esprit.) They also could probably recommend a good FeLV friendly vet in your
area. (A lot of vets will blame every sneeze on the FeLV, view treatment as
useless, and recommend euthanizing immediately. It's the same way with FIV+
cats and it's so unnecessary.)
In general, what you describe would not alarm me. It's one eye, just a
little, and doesn't seem to effect her appetite or energy, right? But, because
she is FeLV+ antibiotics might make sense. I'm going to post your email to me
on the FeLV list and see what people think but I really encourage you to join
yourself.
